soccerfanfandomcom-20200213-history
Philipp Lahm (Player, Germany)
Philipp Lahm (born 11 November 1983) Is a German footballer who plays for and captains both Bayern Munich and the Germany national football team. Lahm is considered one of the best full backs in the world, and was included in the World Cup team of the tournament in 2006 and 2010, the UEFA Team of the Tournament in 2008 and 2012 and in the FIFA Team of the Year 2008. Although Lahm is right-footed, he is able to play on both sides of the pitch. He often cuts from the flank to the inside of the pitch to either shoot or pass. He is well known for his pace, dribbling and precise tackling abilities as well as his small stature, giving him the nickname the "Magic Dwarf". History Early career Lahm developed into a professional football player within the Bayern Munich Junior Team. He joined the team at the age of 11 after a youth coach, Jan Pienta, had scouted him several times while he was playing for the local youth team in his hometown Gern, Munich. He was already considered very talented; one of his coaches, Hermann Hummels, even stated that "If Philipp Lahm will not make it in the Bundesliga, nobody will anymore." He twice won the Bundesliga youth title, the second time as captain of his team, and then was introduced into the amateur side at the age of 17. His former amateur coach Hermann Gerland considers Lahm to be the most talented player he has ever coached and made him the captain of the amateur team during his second season. Up to this point Lahm played as a defensive midfielder, right midfielder or right full-back. Since Willy Sagnol was playing as right back, Bixente Lizarazu was the main left back for Bayern Munich, and their midfield was also well-staffed, Lahm was loaned to VfB Stuttgart for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 Bundesliga seasons. VfB Stuttgart (loan) Lahm was originally signed as a back-up for Andreas Hinkel, who played as right-back, but coach Felix Magath moved him to the left back position, on which he toppled the German international Heiko Gerber. He made his Bundesliga debut on the first day of the season 2003–04 against Hansa Rostock as he came in as a substitute left-back in the 76th minute for midfielder Silvio Meissner. His first professional start as a left back he played on the fourth matchday as a 63rd minute substitute for Gerber and his first game over the full 90 minutes followed on the sixth matchday against Borussia Dortmund. Thereafter he has established himself as a regular left-back for Stuttgart. Lahm's first Champions League appearance in the previous season with Bayern Munich as a late substitute against RC Lens was now followed by his first Champions League game in the starting line-up on 29 September 2003, against Manchester United. During the 2003–04 season Lahm eventually appeared for Stuttgart in 31 Bundesliga and seven Champions League matches and came second in the election for the German footballer of the year. During the second season in Stuttgart (2004–2005) Lahm had substantially more difficult time. After the Euro 2004 tournament and the resulting shorter vacation and pre-season training he had difficulties getting off the ground and also in conforming with the tactics and system of the new coach Matthias Sammer. However, he still made 16 Bundesliga appearances for Stuttgart before the Christmas break, 14 of them over the full 90 minutes, and six appearances in the UEFA Cup. In January 2005 Lahm suffered a stress-fracture on his right foot and was thus sidelined for four months, making his comeback on 9 April 2005, against FC Schalke 04. Only around five weeks later (17 May 2005) he was injured again, this time suffering a torn cruciate ligament which ended his season and simultaneously his career in Stuttgart. Bayern Munchen In July 2005, Lahm returned to Bayern Munich. However, the torn cruciate ligament he had suffered just before his return forced him to start his professional time in FC Bayern on rehabilitation. He returned to the field at the end of November playing first twice for the amateur side of Bayern and thereafter making his first professional Bundesliga appearance for Bayern in November 2005 against Arminia Bielefeld. During the season he appeared for Bayern 20 times in Bundesliga and thrice in Champions League, contending over field-time evenly with Bixente Lizarazu. During the season 2006–07 Lahm played in all of Bayern's 34 Bundesliga games and in nine of the ten Champions League games and was only substituted twice, mainly because he was the only left back in the team but also due to his sufficiently solid performances during a season that was one of the worst for Bayern in many years. For the season 2007–08 Bayern bought the German international left back Marcell Jansen and Lahm was supposed to revert to right, both to accommodate Jansen and to replace French right back Willy Sagnol. Due to injuries (both his and Jansen's) he still mainly ended up playing left for Bayern and remained left for the end of the season, although he uttered his wish to play on right several times during the year 2008. During the whole season there were various rumors suggesting that Lahm would leave Bayern in the summer of 2008 to join FC Barcelona and the transfer seemed to be almost a done deal. However, on 16 May 2008 FC Bayern signed a new contract with Lahm. His new contract kept him in Munich through 20 June 2012. During the 2009–10 season under the new coach Louis van Gaal, Lahm was able to play in his preferred position as a right-back. After some difficulties in the early season he played one of his best seasons ever, forming an excellent partnership on the right wing with the Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben, scoring one goal and giving 12 assists in all of his games. Lahm was also chosen as vice-captain by Van Gaal, and played full-time in all of Bayern's competitive matches apart from the first round game in the German Cup. On 8 November 2009 Lahm was given the highest fine in the history of Bayern Munich to date (estimated to be over €25,000) after giving an unauthorised interview in Süddeutsche Zeitung. He criticised the transfer policy of the club and the lack of game philosophy and strategic planning. This incident drew mixed reactions from fans and the media, both local and foreign, with some saying that Lahm should have kept his opinions to himself and others praising him for his honesty. Although he was fined and heavily criticised by the club hierarchy, he kept his place in the Bayern starting line-up and went on to have a good season. After the departure of captain Mark van Bommel in January 2011, Lahm was made the new captain for the remainder of the season and eventually named club captain. International career Youth Teams and Euro 2004 Lahm started his international career in the U19 national team. He was part of the team that won silver for Germany in the 2002 U19 European championship playing in all games in the final tournament and scoring a crucial goal in the 90th minute (2–3) against England in a game that ended 3–3. Afterwards he played a few U20 and U21 matches for Germany before impressing Rudi Völler enough to hand the youngster his debut on 18 February 2004, at 20 years of age. His first game was a 2–1 win over Croatia, where he played the full 90 minutes and was chosen as the man of the match by German football magazine Kicker. He was also part of Germany's team in the Euro 2004 in Portugal and played full 90 minutes in all three games. Although Germany did not make it past the group stage, Lahm's performance was considered very promising and many German papers saw this as the sole positive aspect in Germany's lack of accomplishment in the tournament. World Cup 2006 Lahm missed more than a year of international football between January 2005 and March 2006 due to injuries (stress-fracture on foot and a torn cruciate ligament), including the Confed Cup 2005, but after his recovery he immediately made it back to the starting line-up. Even though he injured his elbow in a friendly game right before the World Cup 2006 and thus had to wear a special cast on his left arm, Jürgen Klinsmann still chose him as first option for the left back position. He scored the first goal in the opening game of the World Cup in Germany against Costa Rica in the sixth minute, cutting inside the area and launching a right foot shot into the top-right corner of the net. He was awarded Man of the Match for his performance in the second group game against Poland. He was also the only German player to play the complete 690 minutes of the World Cup and was also elected to the All Star Team of the tournament. Euro 2008 During the Euro 2008 he was in Germany's starting line-up in all games and was only substituted in the final after getting a cut needing stitches on his foot. Lahm started the tournament as a right back but replaced the under-performing Jansen as left back mid way through the second game. On 25 June 2008, he scored the winning goal of the Euro 2008 semi-final against Turkey in the 90th minute. He described this as the most important goal of his career and although he was elected Man of the Match, he himself didn't consider this as well-deserved. On 29 June 2008 – in the Euro 2008 final against Spain – on 33 minutes Xavi played a piercing ball through the German defence and a lack of communication between Lahm and German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann allowed Fernando Torres to net the decisive goal in the game; Spain prevailed 1–0 to win its second European Championship title in 44 years. World Cup 2010 Lahm was ever present during Germany's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign and was the only player to play every single minute. Following the withdrawal of regular captain Michael Ballack from the World Cup squad due to injury, Lahm was chosen to captain the team at the upcoming tournament. On 13 June 2010, he captained the German National Team in the opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Australia, becoming the youngest player to captain a German side in a World Cup tournament. Lahm's captaincy would later become permanent, when coach Joachim Löw announced Ballack would not be considered to play for Germany anymore. Euro 2012 Captain Lahm's solid defending helped Germany win all ten qualification matches for Euro 2012, and he also provided one assist each for Mesut Özil and Mario Gomez. Lahm scored the opening goal in their 4–2 victory over Greece in the Quarter Finals. Personal life Lahm was born in Munich, Bavaria. In his youth, Lahm was a joker in school. Lahm liked school trips and was considered a to be a bright student. He had aspirations to become a baker. Lahm was a ball boy at Olympic Stadium for Bayern Munich matches. Lahm is involved in many charity campaigns and events. In June 2007, FIFA announced that Lahm and Owen Hargreaves would visit South Africa in advance to support the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Although Hargreaves never managed to take part in the trip due to injury, Lahm and German national teammate Piotr Trochowski visited the country taking time not only to visit the 2010 FIFA World Cup organizers but also to visit a local SOS Children's Village and to take part in the Kick-AIDS event. Lahm has established a foundation, Philipp Lahm-Stiftung, to support underprivileged children and is also an official ambassador representing "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages". In addition he was an ambassador of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World AIDS Day. He has also taken part in a campaign against speeding and various others such as Bündnis für Kinder, a campaign against child abuse. Lahm was awarded a Tolerantia-Preis on 20 September 2008, due to his outstanding contribution against intolerance and homophobia in sports, particularly in football. He also stated that it's a "pity that being gay in football is still a taboo subject" and he would have no problem with a homosexual teammate and is "not afraid of homosexuals".[37] However, Lahm doesn't advise footballers to publicly admit to being homosexual, because of the abuse they would suffer. He alluded to the tragic death of homosexual footballer Justin Fashanu. Lahm married his early love and longtime girlfriend Claudia Schattenberg in the Munich suburb of Aying, just four days after Germany won third place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The wedding was held as a low key affair, with none of Lahm's World Cup teammates attending the ceremony. The couple welcomed their first son, Julian, on 15 August 2012. Video Category:German players Category:German borned players Category:European players Category:Germany national team players Category:German left defenders Category:German borned left defenders Category:Germany national team left defenders Category:European left defenders Category:11.11 Category:German defenders Category:European defenders Category:German borned defenders Category:Germany national team defenders Category:Bayern Munchen left defenders Category:Bayern Munchen defenders Category:Bayern Munchen players Category:German capitans Category:European capitans Category:German borned capitans